


tis the damn season

by reqlity



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:21:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28312995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reqlity/pseuds/reqlity
Summary: ”the road not taken looks real good now, and it always leads to you, and my hometown.”in which jade returns to LA for the first time in 5 years after living in NY as a big broadway actor, coming face to face with the girl she kissed then abandoned for five years.
Relationships: Cat Valentine/Jade West
Kudos: 25





	tis the damn season

**Author's Note:**

> merry christmas, here's my gift to u!
> 
> this is inspired by the taylor swift song.

The glittering snow that had danced across the towering skylines of the big apple had faded into rays of sunlight filtered through airplane windows, transforming the blue skies of LA into a myriad of pinks and oranges, making for the perfect backdrop to rest behind the Hollywood sign. As heavy wheels ran along the black concrete river of nostalgia and the past, Jade rose from her first class seat as she arrived in her old home.

“Jade!”

“Mother,” Jade greeted coldly before peeling off her mask and giving a small smile, hugging her mom. Afterall, being away from her for five years really took the annoying edge off. Jade had never had a particularly bad relationship with her mom, it was more Jade being annoyed by little things her mom did or her not approving of Jade’s personal choices in her appearance, but overall at least she was there for Jade growing up (which was more than her father ever did). Unlike her mom who Jade still talked to from time to time and even had her see one of her shows, Jade hadn’t spoken to her father since she moved to New York for her first Broadway show. 

“I’m so happy to finally have you back! What’s it like being a big broadway star?” Jade’s mom queried, crystal eyes practically glowing with excitement as she bounded through the airport, having taken one of Jade’s suitcases upon herself. 

Driving through her hometown was bittersweet. On one end, this was the place Jade grew up, where she honed her acting, singing, and writing skills and had some of the best memories of her life. On the other end, the city of Los Angeles moved quickly, and it felt like it moved without her. While she had been acting out her heart on stages, moving audience members to tears and changing lives, the lives of the people in Los Angeles also changed, and Jade had missed out on all of it.

Jade’s mom had asked her to come home for the Holidays many times, but after what occurred before Jade left, she vowed to never return, though it seemed even never had an expiration date as Jade had returned anyways, figuring five years was enough to air out all of the drama of her senior year. She couldn’t help but feel a bit of monachopsis, like she no longer belonged. Jade was no longer an aspiring actress in the city of dreamers, but a gleaming star in the city that never sleeps. Although her rapid success was nothing short of incredible, it also came with the bitterness of losing touch with her roots, even in the short five years she had been gone.

Pulling up in the driveway of her mother’s house felt surreal. While the city might have changed, her old home certainly did not. As Jade walked through the front door, the familiar scent of home danced through Jade’s nose as she was ambushed with a hug. “Woah chill out there vermin,” Jade chided, pushing her brother off of her so she could actually walk into the living room and set down her things. After looking at his disappointed face, Jade rolled her eyes, “Oh come here.”

After a short hug, Jade hopped up stairs to put her stuff in her old room. Jade gave a sigh of relief upon realizing nothing had changed. Same dark walls, same red furniture, same organs in jars. Jade grinned as she picked up her favorite lump of fat, shaking it around a little in her hand. The memory of getting it wasn’t necessarily the fondest of memories, her plan to get rid of Robbie’s stupid puppet had backfired when little miss Vega decided to scrap the entire plan and bring rex back, but at least she got her lump out of it. 

There were some photos laying around her room. Most of her and her friends, a few with her ex she hadn’t bothered to get rid of, and a ton with Cat Valentine. Jade felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach upon looking at the photos of them together. Trying her best to just shake it off, Jade just took out her phone and snapped a quick selfie with her fatty lump, adding a geotag before uploading it to her Instagram story.

To her surprise, Andre replied a few minutes after.

 **a.harris:** sup broadway long time no see. u here for tori’s reunion?

 **jadewest✓:** what reunion?

 **a.harris:** wow all that time in new york really took you out of the loop. thats the price ya pay for being famous!

 **jadewest✓:** yeah yeah whatever. now what's the deal with this reunion?

 **a.harris:** tori organized a 5 year reunion at hollywood arts on the 22nd. you coming?

 **jadewest✓:** doesn’t really seem like my thing.

 **a.harris:** bragging about your success to the entire school isn’t your thing?

 **jadewest✓:** shut up. i might be there. don’t count on it.

 **a.harris:** ok well in case you decide not to go, wanna visit the school with me tomorrow? i was planning on chatting with some of our old teachers and i’m sure sikowitz would love to see his biggest star. 

**jadewest✓:** you’re on harris.

Jade spent some more time texting Andre, afterall he was the only one that never really got under her skin in high school. After finishing her conversation, Jade spent some more time with her family which didn’t make her want to throw up like it would’ve when she was 18. 

The following morning, Jade felt freaked out as she found herself in completely different surroundings than she was used to. After getting her bearings, she left her bed to find pancakes waiting for her downstairs. “Hey Jade!” 

“Hey mom,” Jade replied as she began piling pancakes onto her plate. Jade ate rapidly as she woke up a little later than expected and she needed time to get ready. Nothing could be heard except for the sound of metal forks clinking against ceramic plates as all three Wests ate at the dining table, until Jade’s mother brought up another topic.

“You know, your father would love to see you.”

Jade almost choked on her pancake. Willing herself to swallow, Jade took a long sip of coffee to wash down the remnants of her pancake before swallowing. “You’re hilarious,” Jade deadpanned, “Who told you that? Satan?”

“Your father told me himself.”

“Like I said, Satan.”

“He’s not that bad.”

Jade felt her insides churn with heat until she felt like she was about to erupt. Oh what riot this was. “You literally hate him.”

“That’s different.”

“How is it different?” Jade asked, her voice beginning to rise and her tone starting the journey on the highway to screaming hell. 

“He’s your father.”

“Not anymore.”

“Jade-”

Jade fought with everything in her to prevent herself from exploding into a tsunami of tears. Choosing rage instead of despair, Jade channeled her sadness into anger: a move she did every time she began to feel vulnerable in front of someone. A move the man that created her had taught her when she was six in order to not show weakness in front of anyone. So Jade did what she did best, yell. 

“He fucking abandoned me! He’s the one that disowned me! Do you have any idea how hard it was to cope with his ass never supporting me in literally anything I did? He’s been to one play of mine, one. In sophomore year. It was already hard enough to have the man that was supposed to love me and support me no matter what discard me just because we had different opinions of my career path-- but it didn’t stop there oh no. When I kissed Cat at graduation and he saw, he fucking lost it. He’s the one that screamed at me for having feelings I can’t control. He’s the one who told me I’m no daughter of his and he wishes to see me again? To do what, berate me more for things about myself I can’t control? No thanks. No fucking thanks!”

Jade’s mom was at a loss for words, desperately gasping and grabbing for something to say, for some string of words to hold onto but every word flew by her like a raven gliding across a darkened sky. Unable to even form a sentence, her mom just looked at Jade like a deer in the headlights, frozen with a bewildered expression sitting on her face.

Composing herself, a skill Jade had learned post graduation upon realizing having an attitude would not get a newbie on Broadway very far, Jade’s next words came out smooth and calm. “Now if you excuse me, I have to get ready to meet with Andre.”

Much like she had done in her teen years, Jade waited until her door was locked before the dam blocking the flood burst and tears rained like Hurricane Katrina, sending her body into a wave of shakes and shivers as she desperately tried to calm herself down so that she may have enough time to properly get ready. But as it turns out, your entire existence being rejected by your own father was a wound that wouldn’t heal in mere moments, especially alone. In these times in which Jade simply locked herself into her room and all of the pain she felt fell out into the world in the form of tiny crystal droplets, Jade never felt more alone. Funny how all the success in the world didn’t prevent one from experiencing extreme loneliness. In some ways, it was even more isolating.

Even after just throwing a random outfit on and hurriedly (yet still perfectly somehow) applying her makeup, Jade still ended up late after her little (major) breakdown. Repressing all of her emotions deep inside of her, she managed to greet Andre with a smirk.

“Jade West, I should’ve guessed you’d still be dressed like a walking funeral,” He teased.

Jade felt her smile grow a little before replying wittily, “I like black, it matches black, throwing all those other colors in there makes it way more complicated than it needs to be. Besides, you’re still dressed like a middle schooler that doesn’t know anything other than tee shirts and hoodies.”

“Touche. Now let's go in, my ass was freezing out here waiting for your late ass.”

As the pair entered the school, the first teacher they bumped into was Lane, scurrying down the hallways with lotion under his arms. “Jade, Andre, get to class- wait a minute you two don’t go here anymore,” Lane realized, looking at them like they were a dream come to life.

“Nah we’re just here to visit the old stomping grounds before Tori’s reunion in a few days,” Andre explained nonchalantly. 

After a short but pleasant conversation with Lane, which included Jade apologizing for all the trouble she caused while she was there, they checked up on a few other teachers that Jade honestly wasn’t too fond of before going to Sikowitz’s classroom. They peeked outside the window for a moment, watching Sikowitz making insane hand gestures while teaching a class. Without any warning, Jade just opened the door and entered the classroom while the students lost it. 

There she was, this huge broadway star right in front of them, some squealed while some didn’t even know how to act, simply staring at her in awe. Not paying any mind to it, Jade just took an empty seat in the back. Andre followed shortly after her, sitting next to her. Not just the students, but even Sikowitz, a master in the art of surprise, was dumbfounded.

“Good gandhi! Jade? Andre? Do you guys see them too?” He asked concernedly before taking a sip out of a coconut. Some things never change. 

“Yes!” One particularly eager teen shrieked as she looked at Jade with nothing but excitement and admiration. Jade found her squeaky voice highly irritating but chose to just keep quiet about that.

“Well Sikowitz you did always tell us to do the unexpected,” Jade smirked, leaning back into her chair as she crossed her arms in front of her. 

“And the unexpected you did! Well done kiddo. Students, these are two of my former students Jade West and Andre Harris. As all of you seem to know, Jade has gone on to make a name for herself in the big milky world of Broadway!”

“Milky?” Andre asked.

“Yes! Broadway is a white gleaming world that can go sour if not handled right, like milk. How about you two come up here and perform a scene like old times!” Sikowitz suggested, sitting on the steps and patting his knees excitedly. 

“What do you say, Broadway?”

“I say what the hell lets do it, producer.”

Performing a dramatic scene about breaking the news of a lost loved one, they left half of the class in awe and half in tears. “Wow, that was incredible guys,” Sikowitz commented before the bell rang, as the students got up to leave, Sikowitz shouted as they filed out the door, “One day maybe one of you can be as successful as Jade!”

Jade and Andre took the opportunity to chat with their favorite teacher, recounting all sorts of adventures they’d been on together, including being imprisoned in a foreign country. Andre eventually saw his music teacher Anthony walking in the halls, and promptly went to speak with him, leaving Jade alone with Sikowitz. 

“You know Jade, I always knew you’d be the star of the group, shining as bright as my scalp after a fresh polish.”

Choosing to ignore the weird comment about his bald head, Jade scoffed, “Yeah right. You casted stupid Vega in all your plays the minute she showed up and got her all the opportunities.”

Sikowitz sat down on the steps, leaving Jade to sit down on one of the chairs as Sikowitz began the explanation Jade’s waited for for years. “Listen, I only casted Tori in everything and got her all those opportunities because she needed all the help she could get. She came in here a really good actress for an amatuer, but she was still an amatuer and was used to being handed opportunities, so I just ended up handing them to her. Meanwhile you, you were a much better actress than Tori, you were the best actress in the entire school. You acted professionally and maturely, and to be frankie I didn’t think there was much that I could teach you. I always knew you could make it out there, and look at you. You did, and I’m proud.”

It was Jade’s turn to be shocked that day. After everything she went through in high school, being convinced that some amateur that rolled into school one day and had never acted a day in her life was better than her, was all false. Jade felt like crying, Sikowitz was the closest thing she’s ever had to a supportive father figure, but Jade kept it together and just smiled. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

“Anytime kid.”

After wrapping up her conversation with Sikowitz, Jade looked around to find Andre. She couldn’t see or hear anything resembling her friend, but what she did hear struck a chord within her. 

The most angelic sound one could hear filtered through the hallway, a sound to put even ancient greek muses to shame. As gorgeous high notes rang throughout the hall, Jade found herself dumbfounded. Her jaw hung open as she followed the voice, the notes clinging to her ears like silk. They climbed inside her ear canal to deliver tiny bursts of heaven with each vowel. 

Jade only knew one person that heavenly voice could belong to, but there was no way it could be her. Allowing the notes to be her guide, Jade turned the corner to see a flash of red through an open door just standing in the singing classroom belting her heart out. Jade thought she was having some sort of manic episode leftover from her emotional outburst earlier because the sight before her couldn’t be real.

There, in broad daylight, was Cat Valentine singing in the middle of an empty classroom, her voice coming out in enchanting waves of nirvana. Sunlight fell over her tanned skin, allowing her to glow with the most radiant beauty Jade had ever seen. She had to blink many, many times to be sure that any of this was real, that it wasn’t just some twisted joke her brain decided to play on her in revenge for not letting her express real emotion to anyone ever. The longer Jade gazed, the more real the sight before her became, transforming from a mere mirage to an actual figure. 

Jade debated saying something to her or just leaving. The last time Jade saw the redhead, Jade kissed her in front of the entire graduating class and then never said a word to her again. She had really tried to reach out, but seeing Cat’s face on her instagram just caused Jade to relive one of her final moments in Los Angeles before she had to rush to New York to be in an original show she had miraculously gotten a leading role in. The moment when her dad deprived her of love and support in the moment she needed it most, and instead screamed in her face for liking girls.

Deciding to just leave, Jade turned around before hearing a voice call out to her. “Jade? Is that you?” Jade could feel the blood in her veins freeze. She tried to just keep on walking, but Cat had bounced to her before Jade even had the opportunity to leave. “Jadey!”

As Jade looked into Cat’s auburn eyes, she expected to see some sign of fury or resentment, some kind of hatred lingering in her irises like cheap perfume, but all there was were her sweet, naive, honeyed spheres that Jade had looked into years ago. 

If someone kissed Jade then just left for five years without a word, Jade would be in a rage about to unleash hell on whoever did it, but this was Cat. Sweet Cat who couldn’t hold a grudge to save her life, for her heart was too pure. It was simultaneously Jade’s favorite and least favorite quality about her. 

She could feel the guilt began to corrupt her as it sunk into her bones, wishing for Cat to do something awful to her as revenge to make up what Jade did to her, but Cat was too angelic for that; she instead just excitedly looked at Jade like a puppy when their owner returns, only the owner left for five years instead of five hours. 

“Hey, Cat,” Jade greeted awkwardly, she’d never been awkward before but with the way they left things, it was almost impossible to just hit play and jump into things like they were before, especially when Cat’s face still reminded Jade of her father, but the more Jade looked at her, the more that image began to fade away.

“It’s been so long! I’m so proud of you, you’re a huge broadway star like I always knew you would be!” Cat beamed, grabbing Jade’s bicep and slightly shaking her arm just like she did in high school.

Jade allowed a smile to spread her lips as she pushed the guilt back to where she put all her unexpressed emotions, in the deepest corner of her brain. “Thank you, babygirl.” Jade didn’t even think before using her old nickname for the redhead but Cat’s eyes seemed to light up like Christmas lights. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m a singing teacher here!” Cat exclaimed proudly. Jade didn’t know how a smile that big didn’t just fall off Cat’s face. 

“Really? I thought for sure you’d be famous, you’re so talented,” Jade responded.

Cat shrugged it off. “Being famous scares me, there’s too many people paying attention to you and your every move, but I love being a teacher! Hey! Do you want to get lunch with me?”

Everything in Jade’s head told her to say no, but her heart said, “Sure.”

After catching up with Andre for a bit, he was offered to go but he was going to the recording studio with his new client, the girls went to an old favorite of theirs: Karaoke Dokie. 

“Oh my god all of these people are awful,” Jade complained before shoving a fry into her mouth. 

“Then maybe we should sing something!” Cat suggested, excitedly looking towards the empty stage. 

“You know what, let's do it, but only because I can’t stand to hear another one of these god awful disgraces to the word singer.”

“We should sing-”

“I’m picking the song.”

“Okay babe,” Cat replied without realizing, leaving Jade a little surprised. “Oh sorry! Can I call you that?”

“You know what, sure. I’m feeling generous. Tis the damn season after all. We’re singing ‘Take Me or Leave Me’ from rent c’mon.”

Cat squealed and clapped her hands eagerly. “Yay! I love that song!”

“I know.”

The women soon walked up to the karaoke guy and requested their song. As Jade began the opening lines as Maureen, she felt at home. Performing on a stage was her element, be it on a huge stage in front of hundreds of people or a small crowd of about two dozen, a performance was a performance and Jade threw herself into it.

When it was finally Cat’s turn, Jade immediately remembered exactly why she kissed Cat on her last day at Hollywood Arts. The redhead just put her heart into every single word they sang. While they felt Maureen and Joanne, they also felt like Jade and Cat. As they sang together near the end of the song, Jade felt her heart about to burst. Everything about the moment seemed so perfect, from the way the notes were hit to the way they looked into each other’s eyes as their irises seemed to melt together. 

“Take me baby-ay-ay! Or leave me! Guess I’m leaving. I’m gone!”

The audience erupted into applause as the two finished the song, everyone shocked by the sheer talent oozing through those microphones. They smiled at each other before sitting back down to finish their food. Jade rather die than explain the feelings she just felt as butterflies in her stomach, but that was the phenomenon occurring. 

Cat and Jade ended up hanging out a ton in the week before the reunion, providing each other with an endless source of entertainment. Everything Jade felt for Cat in high school had returned at full force, and Jade barely knew what to do with herself. 

As they were sitting at the bar stools in Jade’s kitchen-- Jade’s mom and brother were out Christmas shopping that day-- they found themselves splitting a bottle of red wine.

“I never told you why I never reached out,” Jade spat out, the statement seeming to poof into existence out of nowhere but her slight tipsiness. 

“I’m just happy you’re back,” Cat replied, taking another sip from her glass.

“But you deserve to know. After we kissed, my dad lost his mind on me and basically disowned me for being bi. I had to leave for New York the next day and anytime I looked at pictures of you, it just reminded me of him rejecting me. I rarely apologize but I’m so sorry for just leaving you like that. I know how shitty it was of me.”

There it was, the beast of guilt had finally overtaken her will to suppress everything as tears began to sprinkle down pale cheeks. Cat was wordless, she just simply stood up and wrapped Jade in a hug. Jade gave a miniscule smile in response, wiping the tears off her face before looking into auburn eyes once more, feeling a magnetic field connecting their irises, and apparently also their lips as Jade leaned into Cat, their lips crashing like two magnets. Opposites really did attract. 

The kiss was sweet, lips caressing each other in a gentle embrace much like Cat did to Jade mere moments ago. It lasted for a while, neither quite wanting to pull away. Cat’s mouth tasted like wine and sugary chapstick, a taste Jade couldn’t help but want more of as she tangled pale fingers in red tresses, effectively deepening the kiss as their tongues collided in a sweet crash of passion. 

The days left before the reunion went by quickly, with Cat and Jade basically acting like lovers after the kiss. They gave no label to what they were, there wasn’t even a conversation about it. They just let themselves be in the moment, but alas, the day of the reunion eventually arrived. 

“Have fun!” Jade’s mom called out to her as she left. 

“I’ll try but Vega’s gonna be there so I don’t know.”

It was a little embarrassing having her mom drop her off, but no one seemed to notice. As Jade walked into the asphalt cafe, all eyes seemed to land on her. She was the breakout star of the graduating class, someone no one expected to actually attend because they figured she’s too successful to even look at them anymore. 

Jade ignored the lingering eyes and instead surveyed the scene herself, finding all of her old friends hanging out together at their old table. Walking over there and sitting down again felt unreal, like it was a figment of her imagination, yet everything was real. 

Everyone except for Cat and Andre were stunned by Jade’s arrival. Jade smirked as she sat at the end of a bench next to Cat, immediately grabbing her hand as a natural instinct from all the time they spent practically glued together. “Jade, I didn’t think you’d be here!” Tori piped.

Jade couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Old habits die hard. “Well here I am Vega. Oh, hey Robbie you don’t have that dumb puppet with you.”

“You mean Rex? I just use him for my comedy acts,” Robbie explained. 

It was Jade’s turn to be shocked. “And you didn’t even call puppet an offensive term!”

“Well that’s what he is, a puppet.”

“Suddenly you’re a lot less annoying. Still slightly annoying but not as annoying.”

“Well thanks for that.”

“So Jade, what’s Broadway like?” Tori questioned.

“It’s everything you ever dreamed it would be. Hey what happened to your dreams anyways? What do you even do now, sing at weddings?”

Tori’s face flushed with embarrassment as she played with her nails, “Yes-”

Jade couldn’t prevent the laughter that ensued. Vega, perfect little sweet sally peaches Vega that everyone expected such great things for was a wedding singer. It was just too good.

“I see you’re still as immature as ever.”

“And what about it, Beckett,” Jade sneered, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned slightly to face him. She knew Beck still had some resentment for her after what happened. They broke up during the last week of their senior year, right before it was announced they were both chosen to be in the leading cast for an original show. Auditions were held at Hollywood Arts, as well as at other top performing arts schools across the country because they wanted a cast full of talented fresh faces. 

Once the show began, Beck and Jade were able to hide their bad blood for a while because of their acting talents, but as the show went on and they got more and more fed up with each other, it started to impact the show. Beck ended up being fired and a new actor took his spot, right before the show went onto Broadway. While it only ran for two years, it ended up being a massive hit, especially for Jade as people obsessed over her character and her portrayal of said character. The musical was Jade’s miraculous jumpstart into stardom, and Beck felt if they replaced Jade instead of him, he would’ve been a star. 

“Guys chill,” Andre cut in before the two could start arguing once more. Jade smirked while Beck muttered something under his breath before looking away. 

As the group continued to just talk like old times, Jade felt her tolerance for Tori slipping away. Right as Tori began some story about Trina, Jade got up. “I need a drink.”

“I’ll come with you!” Cat bubbled. They made it about halfway to the drinks before Jade was stopped dead in her tracks.

“Hello Jadelyn.”

Jade’s fight flight freeze response was triggered, her body choosing to freeze up as all blood seemed to stop circulating her body. She suddenly felt much like she did when she was a defenseless child just standing there as her dad hurled insults at her and her love of theater.

“Dad.” Jade tried to force her voice to come out strong but it just fell short, coming out a weak whimper of what she intended it to be. 

“We need to talk.”

“How did you find me?” Jade’s voice still wavered.

“Your mother told me you were going to be at this reunion thing. Now we really need to talk.”

Jade could kill her mom right now.

“No-”

“Jadey, I’ll go with you. It’ll be okay,” Cat reassured. 

Jade swallowed thickly, agreeing to go with her father under the condition that Cat goes with them. Jade’s heart was pounding erratically as her dad led them into the parking lot where he began to speak. “Look, Jade, I have never said this to anyone before, but I’m sorry. I was wrong. I made a mistake when I saw you kissing this girl. I just didn’t know anything about homosexuals, but I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.”

Jade was incredibly overwhelmed. It was an awful apology, but her father had never apologized in his life. After all those years of never feeling the love a girl should receive from her father, Jade was met with some shitty apology that affected her way more than she’d like to admit. “Okay-”

“I would also like to apologize for how I treated you when you were younger. I always thought wanting to be a performer was a silly, unrealistic dream but you’ve proved me wrong. You’re part of the one in a million actors to actually succeed and I’m proud of you. You’ve done more in five years than I’ve ever imagined, and I’d love to come to one of your shows next time I’m in New York.”

It took everything within Jade to not just break down sobbing in the middle of the parking lot. ‘I’m proud of you’ were words Jade never even imagined coming out of her father’s mouth, especially with how out of the blue it was, but he did have five entire years to think it over so maybe it wasn’t as sudden as it seemed. 

“Thank you.”

Neither knowing how to properly show emotion towards each other, they just kind of awkwardly looked at each other for a few moments before walking away. Jade had no idea how she was even keeping herself together, maybe it was the feeling of Cat’s hand in hers that kept the waterworks locked.

While she wasn’t suddenly besties with her father and still didn’t necessarily like him all that much, a giant weight was lifted off of her chest as she finally felt she could breathe again for the first time in years. Her entire life, everything she did was wrong according to him, but she’s finally done something right: succeed. While she knew her success shouldn’t dictate the support she got from her own father, hearing him using the word proud with her as the context was one of the most meaningful phrases in Jade’s entire life. 

“Wow,” Cat just commented as they began mindlessly walking around the parking lot with no real destination in mind, “How do you feel?”

“Freed.”

Cat squealed and wrapped her arms around Jade, practically squeezing the life Jade had just regained out of her, but in the best way.

They ended up just walking along the perimeter of the school in silence before Jade spoke up again. “I have to go back to New York soon.”

“I don’t wanna think about it.” 

With that, their lips met for what felt like the thousandth time even though that’s nowhere near realistic.

Their lips were soon meeting for the last time in a while as Jade prepared for her flight home.

“I just wish I could come with you,” Cat pouted.

“Why can’t you?”

“I can’t just abandon my students!”

“Well, I guess this is where the road ends.”

“Please don’t go!” Cat pleaded, holding onto Jade’s forearm as she looked into Jade’s soulful irises with the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. 

“I have to. New York is my home now.”

“But-”

Jade silenced Cat with a kiss, a sweet yet passionate kiss similar to the first one they shared upon Jade’s return. “I’ll be back whenever I can be, okay babygirl?”

“Okay.”

“Goodbye.”

“Bye Jadey.”

As Jade’s plane landed back in New York, home suddenly didn’t feel so much like home anymore. Maybe she was still an LA girl at heart, but the big apple was where her life and career was, yet perhaps the dreamer in the city of dreamers still rested at Jade’s core. Afterall, her trip back to her hometown was way more of an emotional rollercoaster than Jade expected as she faced her father and friends for the first time in years, with multiple breakthroughs in various relationships surfacing. 

Maybe one day the stars would align in Cat and Jade’s favor, but for now, they had frequent text messages and phone calls, as well as Jade’s visits to LA. It was unfortunate that the holiday season only lasted so long, because if Jade could choose every day would be the damn season.


End file.
